I have no experience with them but have not heard anything good about their hunting practices. Amish follow the Mennonites and there numbers continue to increase. Their second generation is now having children. I have never had any trouble with Mennonites. Great workers.

If they get busted, well , they will do the penance in local jail with associated fines just like everyone else, who got caught...unless they are black Amish, then they can claim racism...

Amish dude in OH got busted poaching and his community backed him with 30K for a fine so he wouldn't have to do time. They took it out of his hyde later.

Biggest problem I have had with Amish is they don't respect property lines. They will come in to hunt your land without permission.

quote:

Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
Biggest problem I have had with Amish is they don't respect property lines. They will come in to hunt your land without permission.

And nothing will be left.

There are pockets of Amish in areas of NY, where they also have a reputation of not respecting property lines when it comes to hunting or trapping. Never heard of any wasting meat nor of any hunting only big bucks. I think much of it is a variation of subsistence hunting and as such they will keep shooting until they have all the meat they need.

Conservation Officers say that when confronted they will not lie and take their punishment. If fined, they always seem to be able to come up with the money and it's always cash.

Back from 1987 to 2001, I leased 200 acres in the “Thumb” of Michigan that had a sizable Amish community less than a mile from my acreage. Twice I caught the same Amish guy trespassing on my land during the November gun season. Both times, he had NO blaze orange on, as required by law. He had to trespass across TWO other private properties to get to our land. The second time I caught him, he even had a young boy about 10 years old with him. I should have reported it to the DNR, but didn’t. He proceeded to tell the widow lady whose property adjoined ours that I was trespassing on HER land, and was shooting fawns! The widow lady sent a nasty letter to the guy I leased from, and I got a copy of it. On the date he said I trespassed I was out of the country. I sent a letter back to the lady setting her straight on the facts, and told her the next time she and the Amish guy libel me, I’d own their properties from a defamation suit.

I have never lived where they live, thankfully. Nor the Mennonites or any other one of those German-Dutch people who want to live in the 1800s unless it gets really hard then they pull out the tractor and the suburban.

There are a ton in Montana, but not where we lived. I don't think there are any in New Mexico, or Wyoming.

Their business practices are about as unscrupulous as they can be.

We went into an Amish store in Virginia, and they were selling tons of "Amish" products. Mostly bulk food items (gummy bears, pretzels, and so on) that hey had their own sales packaging on.

We used to watch a TV show about the ones in Montana. They didn't poach on TV, but they hunted on TV and if I was a warden I am fairly sure they would have gotten a ticket for their practices.

I just remembered they are called Hutterites in Montana and Alberta.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I just remembered they are called Hutterites in Montana and Alberta.

Different then the Amish all together.

Bumped into one hunting on my bud's family ranch in north central MT. Guy had literally 10 kids under 12 in his truck. He said more swear words in one sentence than I've heard in my life telling my bud he didn't own the land. Supposedly the women go to garage sales and the like and steal everything they can hide in the name of the Almighty.

I hate hypocrites of every race, creed or color.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I just remembered they are called Hutterites in Montana and Alberta.

Different then the Amish all together.

Good people, own a lot of land. Get to know them and they'll let you hunt it.

Grizz

Amish are like Democrats, there are some good ones in the bunch.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Bull Sprig:
Bumped into one hunting on my bud's family ranch in north central MT. Guy had literally 10 kids under 12 in his truck. He said more swear words in one sentence than I've heard in my life telling my bud he didn't own the land. Supposedly the women go to garage sales and the like and steal everything they can hide in the name of the Almighty.

I hate hypocrites of every race, creed or color.

No Amish in MT. Hutterites are probably who you saw. Hoots have a reputation for theft in some colonies. I dealt with them a fair bit and they were always on the up and up. Shrewd business people, but very biased and sexist. They would not deal with a woman. Business is man's work.

Each colony is different and they are not like the Amish.

Jeremy

There is a large Amish population here in Indiana. Generally, they are good folks. Each region is different based on how the elders steer the community. Some allow cell phones and many can drive if it is required for their work. Some work in town, or for non-Amish farms and construction. Other communities allow more or less.

South of us is a large community, and they shoot the shit out of the game. But they aren't poachers. They follow the seasons of the state, and other laws. They are a "if it's brown it's down" kind of hunter, though.

The negative is that they will often pool resources and can drive up land values pushing out small farmers and non-farm landowners. They do get different tax treatment and can offset higher cost per acre initially where I can't.

Just what I know about them. They are different everywhere, so YMMV.

Jeremy

We have Amish here in Bitterroot
Moved here some years ago from East
They don’t bother me none except when I meet buggy on the corner at 60 miles an hour...shit...bit scary
Anyway, don’t have no opinion on them as long as they don’t bother me as they don’t socialize with regular folks

Plenty of Hutts selling farm food throughout the year at a Farmers markets or right out of the trucks
Don’t have problems with them either

They way they live is their problem

When I fist moved to Montana this old boy I worked with told me that the Huts used to send some of their girls out to "improve the gene pool" by getting "friendly" with some of the local boys. I thought this was pretty funny but passed on the idea. Then one of my friends, originally from White Sulphur Springs, claimed he had "relatives in the colony" there thanks to his dad and uncles!

Outside of some strange fashion selections, black polyester leisure suits with extra padded shoulders and neon disco shirts and a extremely patriarchal, condescending attitude towards women, well it's their life.

Didn't really think about them until I found out that they were defrauding the state Medicaid program! Seems that since women have no rights to property in their sect the women would claim indigent status when they got pregnant and have the state pick up the costs of their pregnancy. The state eventually put a stop to it, I doubt they got any money back.

I don't think I would trust them at this point and would probably believe that they were doing "whatever" since if they were willing to commit one type of crime, what would stop them from doing something else, such as poaching or criminal trespass?

I'm not sure about the poaching issue, however, I have had a lot of respect for them in general over the years. A good attitude of self-sufficiency. Also several years ago when I had my Keith # 5 built the builder used the Amish to do the ivory stocks as there was some deal that the Amish were not regulated like others in the ivory business. I don't know any details except I got a very fine set of grips.

Plenty of Amish in my area. Different 'sects' too. The Pennsylvania people wear thick black fabric clothing. The others typical attire. Plenty of Mennonites as well. I've never heard of them committing crimes or poaching but that could be it just does not make the news.

They mostly keep to themselves. I buy raw A2A2 milk from one family and another I hire the woman of the house to run chores on my place if I have to travel. They are competent and hard workers. Some built one of my barns, others roofed my house.

I always get a kick out of the junk food they buy at Walmart. Surprising. A funny story, one time while in the check out line an Amish guy comes up behind me with a big trampoline package. I looked at it and after a minute I said to him, "Dude, y'all don't have a hayloft? That's what we used as kids." He laughed and said he would probably use the thing more than his kids.

Picturing an Amish guy jumping on a trampoline was too much.

Funny to hear all this.

I have friend who is neighbors with Amish community.

He only has praise for them!!??

I grew up near Jamesport, Missouri which has a large community of Mennonites. I have mixed feeling about them. They are good craftsmen but build using old school methods. They only let their kids go to school through the 8th grade and when the elders are gone, they will party until they pass out, wake up and do it all over. Sometimes for 3 to 4 days running.
I have pulled a Mennonite kid out of his buggy and whipped him for trying to sell his sister to me for a pack of smokes. They do have strange values on life.
They do work hard and they eat very well. They built a walk in flagstone fire place with a sunken hearth for my Dad once that is truly magnificent and when it came time to eat lunch they would bring out 2 coolers full of food. Hot chicken with mashed potatoes, green beans with gravy. Then they would have hot apple pie with home made ice cream. We would be eating our sandwich and chips and they would have a 3 course meal. They did eat well.
They treat their buggy horses like shit and run them into the ground. Skin and bones.
Jamesport was 16 miles from my home town and they would trot their horses all the way there, do a little business and then run them all the way back. Smacking them all the way with their buggy whips.
The ones I knew never hunted but would sneak onto private properties to fish the ponds.
They can have their backwards ways.

Like I said before
Their life is their problem, I do feel sorry for the young generation of girls
Growing up like that is not normal, it’s brainwashing

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:

quote:

Originally posted by Bull Sprig:
Bumped into one hunting on my bud's family ranch in north central MT. Guy had literally 10 kids under 12 in his truck. He said more swear words in one sentence than I've heard in my life telling my bud he didn't own the land. Supposedly the women go to garage sales and the like and steal everything they can hide in the name of the Almighty.

I hate hypocrites of every race, creed or color.

No Amish in MT. Hutterites are probably who you saw. Hoots have a reputation for theft in some colonies. I dealt with them a fair bit and they were always on the up and up. Shrewd business people, but very biased and sexist. They would not deal with a woman. Business is man's work.

Each colony is different and they are not like the Amish.

Jeremy

Yes hoots. Mostly ok but weird on certain stuff. I never understood how a people supposedly so strict on values and religion view theft from the state and non-hoots as no big deal. My buddy from Malta is as even tempered as they come....if that prick had mouthed off to me on my land it might have ended differently.

I recall several years ago when a tornado touched down in Jarrell, Tx (not far from here) that the Amish sent a van load of carpenters to help with the reconstruction of the community. No charge. When they were done framing they went back home to Pa. + sent the next van load of trim carpenters. They alternated on taking care of each others farms while they were away. Hard not to respect that.

We are simply herd animals, and if you don’t fit into your own herd, then you either perish Or get bred out or make your own herd and then attack the other herd and voila, wars started

If the non-working class in this country worked half as hard, showed the same amount of respect and raised their kids as they do. We would have a lot less problems than we have today. In my experience they are good people.

Sure they are good people, but unfortunately lots of these sects use taxpayer system they don’t pay in for their own benefits
Now the good people maybe ain’t so good

We are so quick to judge the religions of other Nations but we have some strange people over here.

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
We are simply herd animals, and if you don’t fit into your own herd, then you either perish Or get bred out or make your own herd and then attack the other herd and voila, wars started

It's the way of the world since the beginning of time. It's called the struggle for limited resources. God bless it......and if you think it's going to get better as the world population goes from 7 to 12 billion by 2100 you're not paying attention.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
We are so quick to judge the religions of other Nations but we have some strange people over here.

Oh boy, don’t we
Like the Mormon sects with multiple wives and Mormon church don’t wanna claim them but rest of us see them as Mormons thus giving Mormons black eye

I grew up with Amish and Mennonites as neighbors, friends and family members, by marriage. I've eaten at their tables and they've eaten at mine. I generally refer to myself as being semi plain. If you get to know them, you will find them to be fine people. They have different religious beliefs and may dress differently, but they are just people, and each is an individual. There is a self disciplining that goes on in their community with very high expectations that we, as nonmembers often find harsh. I would say not to lump all people of any background all together if you've had or heard of a poor experience with a single individual.
Bfly

I know more non Amish that poach and ignore the hunting regs than I do Amish..... Amish tend to be respectful of the law.

quote:

Originally posted by hikerbum:
I know more non Amish that poach and ignore the hunting regs than I do Amish..... Amish tend to be respectful of the law.

If they're like Hutterites, they're Anabaptists, you're not accepted fully into the religion and all that goes with it, until you are an adult. Before that, the sky's the limit and they take full advantage.

Grizz

In MT we have Hutterites which is there own sect and not an offshoot of Amish. There is some Amish in MT also but they never kill and trespass as much as the natives do. The Hutterites own large ranches and farms in MT and they mostly allow hunting which is good.

Boarkiller:

No one needs to give the Mormon's
a black mark for anything.

Just read their own history and
what they did soon as they got to
SLC area.

I dealt with a "high priest in the
Mormon church" he claimed. Liar,
cheat, back stabbing sob. Yet tried
to put on the good show.

George

I liked the Hutterites in MT. When I was a kid in Great Falls they would come around door to door selling fresh produce from their gardens.

In the late 70s a coworker and I got damage control deer tags out of Billings. When we asked the Hutterites for permission to hunt on their land they were very happy to have us thin out the deer for them. They gave us a few hints and we both got our limits.